Stand By Me: Holiday Collection
by BoatsAgainstTheCurrent
Summary: A collection of holiday experiences for the guys :) Collection #1: Christmas, New Years, and Valentine's Day.
1. Christmas

**Hey everyone. This is a last minute Christmas story that I wanted to post. My friend CherryCokesAndWinterSmokes and I wanted to both write a Christmas story for the boys because we wondered what they would get each other and what they would get for Christmas. **

Gordon, a typical shy boy with twelve years on him, sat in a tree house. It was _his_ tree house. Well his along with his friends that is. He sat all alone on a cold winter morning. The frost of the weather had numbed his toes and he wrapped his arms around him to keep any scrap of heat contained in his body.  
The weather outside had frozen the tree house windows shut. They were glazed with slick ice.  
There was snow on the ground as well. It was up to his knees so that as Gordon had walked from his house, the wetness had soaked through to his bare legs underneath the thin denim.  
It was Christmas morning on this icy cold day in a small town called Castle Rock. Now, in other cities and towns across the country and the world, this day would have been joyous, a cause for celebration and happiness. But not in Castle Rock. It was quiet and boring as ever. The streets were left secluded and there was not a sign of Christmas cheer or lights at any crack or crevice.  
That is, there was not a sign anywhere but at the Tessios' house.  
In their front yard, there stood a small bush. It had been delicately and caringly decorated with dim lights that barely lit up the patch of grass around it. But at least it was something.

There was not a whisper heard around Gordon, not a scampering or a scratching, not a laugh or a sniffle. There was only the faint howling of the wind rustling through the dry branches of the trees. Those branches reminded Gordon of old dusty bones.

Christmas was no exceptional time of year for him. It was the same as any other day, empty of any sort of excitement.

Suddenly, out of no where, there was a shout. It came whistling at him through the cracks of the tree house, causing Gordon to jump from his stiff position.

"Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock…"

The sound continued but Gordon knew exactly who it was coming from.

The boy singing was named Theodore Duchamp. He came skipping in nothing but a flimsy t-shirt and dark jeans. He may have been the only person in Castle Rock who seemed to have some joy inside of him.

Theodore burst through the entrance of the tree house, quickly climbing up the ladder.

"Hey Gordo," he exclaimed brightly, plopping onto the nearest chair.

Gordon continued to keep his frozen hands wrapped around him. Chattering, he spoke, "Hey Teddy."

"You look awful man. What's up with you?" Teddy asked him.

Gordon, or Gordie as he was known among his friends, didn't speak. But he thought. He was in no mood to embrace the Christmas spirit, that was for sure.

Every year was the same. Nothing ever changed. He spent his day away from home in the tree house. The only presents he got consisted of his father yelling at him in the morning. There was no, "Good morning" or "Merry Christmas Gordon." There wasn't even a smile.

Teddy waited patiently for a response, but nothing came.

After moments of silence, there came a knock from below.

The clear sound of knuckles against wood.

"Come up," Teddy practically shouted into the frosty air, causing steam to form in front of him.

At first, the flap opened, and shortly afterwards, a blonde head appeared.

Christopher Chambers, best friend of Gordon Lachance.

He too seemed bored, worn down, and unhappy. There was no glow within him that could be seen clearly. He sat down silently, resting his heavy head on Gordie's shoulder.

"What the hell is wrong with the both of you?" Teddy asked, raising his eyebrows into the shape of a triangle.

Yet again, there came not a response. Only a whimper from Chris.

"Another shitty day in Castle Rock," Chris said under his breath. Gordie couldn't help but lift the corners of his mouth ever so slightly.

His best friend never failed to make him smile.

"But, I got you both something anyway, with the small amount of money I could salvage," as Chris spoke, his head remained on Gordie's shoulder.

Gordie's eyes widened. The boys never bought each other presents.

"You did?" Teddy asked, looking almost as shocked as Gordie.

Chris nodded, finally straightening his head and reaching towards his pocket.

Gordie turned to face his best friend, finding himself curious and only a bit confused.

Teddy inched closer, trying to catch a glimpse of his gift.

Chris rummaged through his jean pocket, finding empty cigarette packs and some lousy pennies, until he finally reached what he had been looking for.

First, he pulled out something that looked to be a chain. It had something attached to the end of it. Chris handed it to Teddy, "Another dog tag necklace. I thought you might like it."

Teddy broke into a grin, taking the chain into his hands, "Sweet, thanks man."

Chris smirked, "No problem."

Teddy began to occupy himself with the necklace, as if it were made of pure gold. During this time, Chris turned back to Gordie. He suddenly seemed happier and brighter, as if giving his present was the highlight of his life.

He dug back into his pocket, but this time it was the right one. Within a matter of seconds, he held a leather bound journal in his hand.

Gordie stared at it in awe, not quite believing his eyes. All his life, he had survived off of one pathetic torn notebook. But now, he could write like a king.

"Jesus Chris, how much money did that cost you?"

Chris shrugged, "Don't worry about the price. It was well worth it."

He smirked again, handing Gordie the journal.

Gordie admired it for a few more moments before he finally looked into Chris' eyes and hugged him, "Thanks so much man."

Chris nodded with a gleam in his blue eyes, "Don't worry about it. I couldn't stand watching you write in that awful notebook anymore."

The both of them laughed.

Little did they know, there was a new sparkle within the town. The trees suddenly started dancing. The frosty wind cooled down. The ice melted off of the windows. Children awoke, new smiles on their faces. A kind of joy began to grow.

"Where's Verno? I have something for him too," Chris winked at Gordie.

As if on command, the flap below them was thrown open, and a chubby kid with rosy cheeks climbed up.

He seemed to be holding something red in his hands.

"Hey guys!" The boy named Vern exclaimed enthusiastically, "Guess what I got?"

"What?" Teddy asked.

The chubby kid held up what was in his hands. A mega pack of Cherry Pez.

"Shit," Chris cursed under his breath, taking out the pez he had gotten for Vern from his pocket and showing it to Gordie.

"Give it to him anyway. He always appreciates pez," Gordie laughed.

Chris nodded, agreeing with the statement.

The four boys happily enjoyed there company a few moments longer.

"Merry Christmas Chris," Gordie whispered.

"Merry Christmas Gordo," Chris replied, looking into Gordie's eyes.

"One last thing."

"Yes?" The question came from Chris.

"What do you want for Christmas?"

There was another brief moment of silence.

"What do I want?"

Gordie nodded, widening his big doe-like eyes, encouraging an answer.

Chris smiled, draping his arm around his best friend's shoulder, "Gordo, all I need is love."


	2. New Years

**Hi everyone. I promised I would post this story, so here it is. Thanks to everyone who reviewed the Christmas Story. So this will be chapter two of my holiday collection. Happy New Years everybody :)**

It was an even colder December night than Christmas had been. The snow was piled high on everyone's front lawn. The driveways had been cleared and shoveled as best as they possibly could have been by many people.  
But the snow wasn't the only problem. It was foggy in the air, making sight distance limited. The ice on many of the streets was slick and almost unseeable, causing cars to skid off the road and people to fall on their bottoms easily.  
Despite all these wintery factors, it wasn't too bad a day in Castle Rock. Actually, it was better in terms of mood than most days had ever been.  
It was the very last night of the decade, and people like Christopher Chambers saw it as a fresh start.  
In fact, Chris was bundled up in a winter coat he had received from his best friend Gordie. Along with it, he had a scarf wrapped around his neck to keep warm as well.  
He was walking the town, careful not to step on any ice, when in the distance, he saw Vern.  
Naturally, the chubby kid came running towards him with pink cheeks. He was bundled in an oversized coat and blue gloves, yet he was beaming.  
"Hey Chris. I have some big news," Vern said, practically jumping up and down with excitement.  
"What is it man?" Chris asked him, keeping cool by pulling out a cigarette and lighting it.  
By now, he was used to Vern's excitement.  
"Well," Vern began, "I made a New Years resolution."  
His grin grew as he stared at his smoking friend.  
Chris looked back, the cigarette suddenly hanging limply out of his mouth. For a moment, he was completely speechless.  
But within a second he broke out in laughter. He took the cigarette from his mouth and spoke, "Vern, you've made resolutions every year and kept none of them."  
At first, Vern looked slightly upset, "Well yeah, I know. But this year, it's different. I have decided to stick with it."  
Chris laughed a second time, "Okay Vern, if you say so. What's the resolution this year?"  
Vern was still grinning, "I'm going to stop eating candy."  
Suddenly a voice from behind was heard, an evil laughter was coming from them.  
Chris turned to look who was standing behind him.  
"Why hello Chambers," the person spat.  
"Merrill," Chris replied bitterly.  
"Well Tessio," Ace turned to look Vern dead in the eye, "I wish you luck with that resolution of yours."  
It was as simple as that. Both boys had expected Ace Merrill to hang around, tormenting them again. But instead, he walked off with that toothpick of his in his mouth.  
It was true what he had said after all. Everyone would need to wish Vern much luck with this new project of his. The whole town knew "that fat Vern Tessio kid" was nearly completely incapable of stopping his addiction with candy. He visited the local sweets shop everyday, at least twice. He was a regular. The shop owner knew almost more about him than any of his friends did.  
Vern looked hurt at Ace's comment.  
"Oh it's okay Verno," Chris comforted, "it's just Ass Hole Merrill."  
Vern managed to smile again.  
"If only he would make a resolution to quit being mean," he whined like a little child.  
Chris laughed, "Yeah that would be nice."  
The two began to walk again in the direction of the tree house.  
When Chris knew Vern's mind was back on candy, he whispered to himself, "But that won't ever happen."


	3. Valentine's Day

**Hey guys! So this is my newest addition to the Stand by Me Holiday Collection :) It's Valentine's Day, and I know, I'm sorry it's a bit late but I haven't had any time to write recently. So, I decided I wanted to make this a cute little Vern love story since we all know he never gets those. Poor guy :( enjoy and please review.**

Vern was a bit depressed on that Thursday morning in February. It was the 14th of the month and of course everyone knew what that meant. It was the day of love and flowers and girls running around whimpering about not having a boyfriend to celebrate with. Yes, it was Valentine's Day; a day on which Vern always hoped to find a girl that would like him. But the chances of that happening anymore were very slim. Castle Rock was a small town of only slightly over a thousand people, and all the girls at Vern's age had already made it clear that they weren't interested in him whatsoever.

His only hope was to find someone new, someone who had never gotten a chance to know him, someone who had just moved to Castle Rock. But what were the chances of that? No one ever moved to Castle Rock.

Vern made his way through downtown, hugging himself in the frosty weather. The sun was shining and there were no clouds in the sky, but it was still chilly out. It was six A.M, and as Vern walked to school, he dreaded every step. He was absolutely not looking forward to the swarm of annoying girls at school who would crowd around all the popular boys and shower them with kisses and flowers. Vern's friends, Teddy, Gordie and Chris had all been complaining the day before. Teddy, more than the rest of them, despised Valentine's day. No girl ever liked Teddy because he was quite the crazy guy, and though he thought of himself as attractive, girls didn't seem to agree. Chris, on the other hand, was an attractive young man, but because of his reputation and the fact that he had an awful family, people tended to stay away from him, only looking at him to gossip more with their friends, or when they wanted to throw him dirty looks.

Of the four of them, Gordie was the quietest and probably the cutest. He didn't have a bad reputation really; he just got pity looks from everyone who knew about his dead brother.

Vern pressed on through town, almost to school. There was really nothing good about Valentine's Day for him. Most of the time girls would just laugh at him, and Teddy would join in. All he wanted for one day was to be left alone by everyone. He just wanted to sit quietly in the corner of the classroom like always and be left there with his own thoughts.

Vern nodded to himself as he walked down the road, agreeing to avoid everyone that day. Clearly, he wasn't paying much attention, for as he scuffled along in his worn out keds and looked down at the ground, he bumped into somebody.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the person said in a very innocent voice. The first thing he noticed was obvious, she was definitely a female. Vern's reply was muffled and didn't come out clearly at all.

"I'm sorry, what?" The girl said with a small smile. Vern was staring at her with an open mouth. She looked to be his age, around fifteen. Her hair was long, dark brown, and perfectly sleek, something that was very rarely seen. She had piercing blue eyes and a beautiful smile. Her teeth were amazingly white and straight. For a moment, Vern was unsure that the girl was even real. He continued to stare, until he realized that she had asked him a question.

"I-I, um, it's okay. Hi," he told her awkwardly.

The girl laughed sweetly, "Hi, I'm Pamela."

Vern gaped at her again, "I'm Vern."

"It's nice to meet you Vern," she replied, "Are you going to the high school?"

Vern nodded stupidly, "Yeah, are you going there?"

She nodded as well, "Yeah, I'm new here."

Vern couldn't quite believe what he was hearing. Was this some sort of dream? There was actually a new, beautiful girl in Castle Rock.

The two of them accompanied each other to the high school and walked in together.

"I just got here last night, so I have absolutely no idea where anything is and I don't know anyone besides you," Pamela told him as they reached to entrance. She tended to smile a lot. Vern was a trance and had a hard time replying to anything she said, which made Pam smile even more.

The school was swarming with students and suddenly Vern found himself feeling quite excited for the day ahead. He was no longer going to care what the others girls in the school were doing and acting like.

The bell rang loudly throughout the school just as Vern opened the main door to the school, letting Pam walk through before he did.

"Why thank you," she said, curtsying slightly and gliding past him.

Vern couldn't help but grin; for once in his life a girl actually took the time to speak to him, and he was definitely enjoying it.

"So, do I go to the office then?" Pam asked him, "You know, that I can get a schedule."

Vern nodded stupidly, "Yeah, I'll come with you."

The two of them headed to the nearest doorway while students piled in from outside quickly so as not to get to class late.

The main office was empty except for the one older woman sitting behind a desk.

The noise from the hallway was stifled as Vern and Pam entered the small room and closed the door behind them.

"Hello," Pam said uncertainly, "I'm new here and I need to pick up my schedule."

The woman behind the desk rifled through some papers, readjusted a pair of glasses on the bridge of her nose, and finally, "Pamela Emerson?"

"Yes, that's me," Pam smiled sweetly and she accepted a schedule from the woman.

Vern turned back to the door and opened it so that Pam could step out first.

"Looks like I have English first block," she said, looking down at the slip of paper.

"Oh, me too!" Vern jumped excitedly, causing him to jam his pinky in the door as he shut it.

Pam laughed, "Cool, I'm glad I'll already know someone."

Vern couldn't get over her beautiful smile, not to mention her beautiful face.

The two of them walked to English together, not caring that they were already late to class; they were just enjoying each other's company.

"You know, you seem like a really nice kid, Vern," Pam said.

Vern was shocked and awestruck. No one had ever said that to him, most of the time he just had to endure rude comments from people, even his closest friends.

"Thanks, you seem really nice too," Vern managed to say instead of stuttering.

Pam chuckled heartily, "You're adorable." It came out small, but Vern had heard it, and as soon as she realized what she had said, her face went beat red. Almost as red as Vern's did.

"So are you," he mustered up in a whisper.

The two of them were completely alone in the hallway now, and Vern took this moment as his shot. He had to go for it. For once, he couldn't be a wimp.

He quickly, without thinking twice about it, grabbed her hand as they walked. Pam looked up in shock, and briefly Vern thought he had made a mistake, but then she settled into her sweet little smile and squeezed his hand affectionately.

Maybe this wasn't going to be such a terrible Valentine's Day after all.


End file.
